due ruote 

Is there a qualitative difference, or should I make a decision based solely on aesthetics?

brian3069

The qualitative difference is insignificant, go with aesthetics.

DMC707

Sante was a midrange group that had (has) a cult following due to its finish

By midrange - I mean roughly Shimano 105 level bits n pieces ------ in my personal experience, I do not believe Sante is up to the level of 600 or 600 tri color

although the functional differences are not enough to argue about

In the end, Dura Ace still reigns supreme


Sante' if in good shape though, would be a really cool group to build an 80's type build out on ---- but if the parts are scuffed up r worn even a bit, they really look tattered ---- the lighter gray colored Shimano 105SC from '91 - '96 ish or so suffered from that same problem ---- the slightest bit of wear left the painted finish looking really shabby (mostly crankarms)

due ruote 

Thanks. I will probably go with the Tricolor hubs then. The Sante ones do feel smooth; I will give them that, but I’m not in love with the look and don’t have the whole group anyway.

frantik

I believe Sante was intended to be positioned between 600 and Dura Ace in the Shimano line up, though I can't speak to the quality of the parts. When it comes to hubs though, unless you're going DA then there's not a whole lot of difference between the upper end Shimano stuff anyways

RobbieTunes

For that era of Shimano hubs, 600EX/6400 "Tricolor" is a workhorse, but Dura Ace is absolutely the sweetest honey out there. I've had Sante wheels and honestly couldn't tell you where they fall.


This. A prime set of 7700 hubs, properly packed and adjusted, can be built to compliment almost any bike. And that's 20 years later.

Around here, the price differences, though, are still substantial.

RobbieTunes

Maybe contact norcalmike, who's building a Sante bike, I think. I'm not sure if he has the hubs.

RobbieTunes

Depends if you're looking for a long-term relationship.

seedsbelize 

The first wheel I ever built was on a Santé hub. All the rest are tricolor. I like them all. I know this doesn' t help.

Slash5

I believe the Sante will be 7 speed and Tricolor could be 7 or 8 if that makes a difference to you.

T-Mar

Plus,the later version of 600 Ultegra was also Hyperglide compatible, while Sante was strictly Uniglide. Those threaded UG outer cogs are becoming scarce and expensive.

calamarichris

I've got bikes with both and 600 is better quality IMO. The Sante was priced between 600 and Dura Ace, but Ultegra Tricolor was better IMO. I remember Shimano used Ultegra to test some ideas like SLR and one iteration was even slightly better than that year's Dura Ace.
Sante had the quick-release in the brake lever which is novel, but not as robust as the nob on the caliper.

Mr. Spadoni 

Sante? It was products like this that made me think the component makers had lost their way. Buy something for the look not the function ? Sheer madness.

norcalmike

I dont. I'm using the stock prelude wheels with the Maillard hubs.
I would like a Sante 7 speed freewheel though.
I like my Tricolor hubs. I have a few bikes with them

T-Mar

SLR brakes were introduced for the 1987 model year on New 105. SLR didn't trickle up to 600 Ultegra until the 1988 model year.

texaspandj

The first ad I saw for them came out in 87 with fd,rd, and shifters. By 1988 they were advertising hubs,crankset,brake calipers and levers, and headset. It was a "three -coat baked acrylic enamel finish." Although the levers were SLR the calipers didn't have quick release. One of their selling points was "you're looking at the difference between riding style and riding with style".
I saw alot of the second tier shimano sponsored pro triathletes using some form of them.

stardognine

That '88 C'dale I recently acquired has a lot of Tri-Color, including the SLR brake levers. These ones have some road rash, but function really nicely. 😎 Don't have any Sante experience, but I'm loving these Tri hubs.

Dave Mayer

Shimano 600 (6400 era) and Sante were built to about the same level of quality.

I've owned and ran both. I still use a 600 rear hub on my main bike.

I would highly recommend against Sante or 7400-era Dura-Ace. First, despite being high-quality gear, 7 and 8-speed Dura-Ace is filled with incompatibilities with everything else in the Shimano lineup, before or since. Hence the reason these parts perpetually clutter up Ebay.

Sante is also high-quality, notwithstanding the white-paint cosmetics that looks terrible in no time. Here are some of the other problems with Sante:

• The rear hubs came in freewheel and 7-speed Uniglide freehub versions. Not very useful. I know you can replace the freehub for a 8/9/10 speed Hyperglide version, but why not buy the 600 hubs that are ready to go.
• The Sante brakes were skimpy single-pivots with no quick-releases. The 600 dual pivots are far better in every respect. Or for that matter, any dual pivot brakes are better than any single pivots.
• The Sante cranksets were Biopace. 'Nuff said. They also took a weird custom (narrow) bottom bracket spindle size.
• The Sante rear derailleur was a little work of art. Unfortunately, it had the smallest cog and cog range capacity of any derailleur that I'm aware of. You'll be lucky to run a cogset with 26 teeth. Run a wide range crankset such as a compact? Nope: Not enough chain wrap capacity..

Sante: just say no. Later 600: yes.

rjhammett

Sante was placed between 600 and DA. The Bicycle Info Project: Shimano Sante

RiddleOfSteel

7400 is a commitment when it comes to shifters + RD cable pull. The rest is thankfully interchangeable with other groups. If you have a bunch of 7400 you wish to be rid of for a song, I'd be happy to relieve you of it. I love that stuff!

Kimmo 

A RD-7400 can be used with a 7s cassette / 8s shifter, 8s cassette / 9s shifter, and so on. I once upgraded a 7400 bike with dt shifters to 9s with a set of ST-5800s.

texaspandj

I can interchange between DA 7400 and 600,105 quite easily. I don't get any kind of interchangeable issues.

Mr. 66

I've got a set of sante fd and rd are the pull ratio for these the same as 105? I'd like to pair them with my shifters I have in the bin.

verktyg 

Shimano introduced the Sante gruppo in 1987, the same year as the new 105 gruppo. It was aimed at the "Sports Cyclist" as opposed to the racing set. As mentioned in posts above it was between the 600 and Dura-Ace products in Shimano's lineup.

What was going in in US pop culture at that time? MIAMI VICE! Flashy colors were the hot ticket!

Unfortunately sports cyclists weren't particularly into the color of little things like components.

Also not that many bikes came OEM with Sante gruppos. 105 components were dirt cheap and 600 parts were a lot less than Sante.

The Sante line quietly disappeared in 1990.

In 1988 Shimano came out with the 600 Ultegra line which were transition products to add some consumer appeal below Dura-Ace.

In 2010 I picked up an almost new 1988 Peugeot Biarritz, all original except for the high rise Nitto Technomics stem and tires. It has a Shimano 600 Integra Tricolor gruppo with BioPace chainrings.

eBay pictures except last one with a normal stem

4funbikes

A likely improvement to either hubset would be to replace the originals with grade 25 ball bearings.